Jonathan Hunt is the Coordinator of Library Media Services at the San Diego County Office of Education. He served on the 2006 Newbery committee, and has also judged the Caldecott Medal, the Printz Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. You can reach him at hunt_yellow@yahoo.com

Comments

Signing off here and heading over to SLJ’s Battle of the Kids’ Books (http://battleofthebooks.slj.com/) where the contenders are to be announced tomorrow. See which of the ALA Award winners, your overlooked favorites, and a few surprises perhaps are among them.

Aww…..I haven’t commented much, but I’ve been eagerly following the discussions. Thanks again for a marvelous blog. I have The Lions of Little Rock checked out. I’ll be rooting for Kristin Levine–she’s a northern Virginia writer. Of course, she’s a great writer, and The Lions of Little Rock has already earned fantastic reviews, so it’s not purely based on geography.

There’s a nonfiction book (out in March) that I’m keenly interested in. It’s called The Fairy Ring by Mary Losure, and it’s about the fairy photographs faked by two little British girls at the turn of the last century. Kirkus reviewed it very favorably.

A slight correction (I’m going through your wonderful list and adding them to future orders and my neverending TBR list): looks like Helen Frost’s forthcoming book is titled Step Gently Out, according to Baker and Taylor. Of course, not unusual for titles to change so quickly!

B&T has a 10/25/11 publication date for I Lay My Stitches Down; Publishers Weekly apparently reviewed in November, but the other review publications only recently reviewed it. (Looks great, so I’m glad that you included it anyway.)

Several of these books were “surprises”-and some are already out…lucky me! (We route our review journals-I’m second in line, so I don’t see them right away)

The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone has 2 starred reviews already. Kindred Souls by Patricia MacLachlan has 3 starred reviews (plus previous winner, so perhaps of note) and leans towards the younger novel end. Polly Horvath’s Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, Detectives Extraordinaire also has 2 stars and hits the chapter book range a bit. Finally Veera Hiranandani has 2 stars for The Whole Story of Half a Girl. So much to read already and as always, so little time!

It’s been a pleasure following the blog this year – I came so close to getting the entire shortlist read in time this year (much closer than I got last year for sure!) and have high hopes that next year I’ll get all the way through. Looking forward to seeing how much reading I have to do for the Battle of the Books!

Jennifer, thanks for noting the corrections; I’ve changed them above. I think I just got the title of STEP GENTLY OUT confused with I LAY MY STITCHES DOWN. As for that latter title, I was sure it was a 2011 publication, but then Follett had the copyright date listed as 2012. And thanks also to Jen B for noting the additonal starred reviews. I actually knew about KINDRED SOULS, but just forgot to list it here. Keep those recs coming!

THE WILD BOOK by Margarita Engle is, like MAY B., a historical novel in verse with a dyslexic main character (although neither, I think, uses the word dyslexia). TWB is set in Cuba in 1912. I’ve read MAY B and loved it; looking forward to Engle’s.

Another gentle correction: Christopher Paul Curtis’ THE MIGHTLY MISS MALONE is more of a companion novel to BUD, NOT BUDDY, not a sequel. The events in that book occur in parallel time to those in BNB. And it’s a fabulous read!

Gary Schmidt wrote a fantasy novel???? I don’t know whether to be excited or nervous.

The 2012 book I’m looking forward to the most is Peaceweaver by Rebecca Barnhouse. I loved her 2010 novel The Coming of the Dragon, which I thought was good enough to garner more attention and talk than it did.

Thanks for the wonderful year everyone! Especially Jonathan and Nina for all your hard work.

SLJ has just given NO CRYSTAL STAIR by Nelson, TITANIC by Hopkinson, and BENEATH A METH MOON by Woodson (too old?) their third starred reviews, while COLD CEREAL by Rex earns its second. And, looking back through my list, I also forgot to mention that PROMISE THE NIGHT by Michaela MacColl has two starred reviews. Also, Phillip Hoose has a new nonfiction book called MOONBIRD that looks really interesting . . .

I’m listening to THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE on audio, and my gut reaction is: instant Newbery! I haven’t finished it, so of course I should reserve judgement, but it’s just SO good, I can’t help but get a little enthusiastic.

Ahem.

Can’t wait for PALACE OF STONE!

And as others have mentioned, we have another Grace Lin book to look forward to this Fall- THE STARRY RIVER OF THE SKY, a companion to her Newbery Honor winning WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON. And that’s in addition to DUMPLING DAYS, published in January of this year. The strongest volume of the charming “Year of” series yet, in my opinion!

Just finished The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Hiranandani (2 stars from PW and Kirkus). I thought it was good (I think it will be a good one to recommend to middle grade girls who like realistic fiction), but I don’t think it’s going to be one of the best of the year. I could see myself being possibly swayed by a good argument, but it felt like it was trying to cover an awful lot of ground and ended up spread a little thin.

Hello, DaNae
Did we take the same ALSC Online Newbery Class last spring? Nice to see your name.

I just finished CROW and overall think its great HistFic. It will take a patient child reader to get through the first 100+ pages until the plot takes off. Jacket art doesn’t help sell it to children, either. That being said, the last 1/3 of the book is very tensely written, the sense of impending doom is palatable. Memorable characters, imagery, parallel themes converge. Schoolkids know about the US Civil Rights movments but will appreciate learning how segregation became law. At least I did!

Read the newest of The Knights’ Tales by Gerald Morris and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it was anywhere near as good as Sir Gawain. Our book club just read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin and now I can’t wait for Starry River of the Sky in October!

Just finished CROW and agree with DaNae above, except I thought it was more interesting to get into than she did. Liked it enough that I suggested my 6th grade teacher add it to his 3 books of required -reading-over-the-summer. Thought MIGHTY MALONE was OK, but not great, but that WONDER was great, but can’t tell if kids will stay with it. CHOMP was fun, but not another HOOT.

Sway by debut author Amber McRee Turner oublished by Disney Hyperion is getting great reviews and some Newbery buzz. Story told in the authentic Southern voice of 10-year-old Cass as she lives through the heartbreak of a parent abandoning the family. Full of magical realism with original word play. Brings to mind the movies, Big Fish and O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I love Son by Lois Lowry, and “my kids” are loving Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz. Sophia’s War, by Avi, is good, too. Precious Bones, by Mika Ashley-Hollinger, has a wonderful community of characters. Has anyone yet read Laugh with the Moon, by Shana Burg?

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About Heavy Medal

Steven Engelfried is the Library Services Manager at the Wilsonville Public Library in Oregon. He served on the 2010 Newbery committee, chaired the 2013 Newbery Committee, and also served on the 2002 Caldecott committee. You can reach him at sengelfried@yahoo.com.

Sharon McKellar is the Community Relations Librarian for the Oakland Public Library in California. She has served on the Rainbow List Committee, the Notable Children's Recordings Committee as well as the 2015 Caldecott Committee. You can reach her at sharon@mckellar.org.

Roxanne Hsu Feldman is the Middle School (4th to 8th grade) Librarian at the Dalton School in New York City. She served on the 2002 and 2013 Newbery Committees. Roxanne was also a member of 2008-2009 Notable Books for Children, 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults, and the 2017 Odyssey Award Committees. In 2016 Roxanne was one of the three judges for the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. You can reach her at at roxannefeldman@gmail.com.

Join us from September to January as we discuss all things Newbery: the history and purpose of the award, terms and criteria, possible contenders, and results of Mock Newbery discussions--including yours?